Death Sutra

Chapter 171 The Battle of Vengeance

Chu Yangjun’s martial arts skills were much better than the Sabre G.o.d Huang Shian’s, so Gu Shenwei could only use an a.s.sa.s.sination method. But he was still unable to dodge the swordsman’s counterattack.

The long sword went deep into his chest. With a bit more force, the one dead would have been the killer.

Gu Shenwei’s swordsmanship had improved. He couldn’t describe it in words, but his confidence had increased a lot and he now felt that he had the ability to kill Ye Silang. 

The best time to a.s.sa.s.sinate Ye Silang was actually now because the swordsman didn’t know that his protector had died.

Gu Shenwei wanted to pull out the sword from his chest but failed. His arm was too weak and the sword was too long for him to reach the hilt.

Lotus ran over, drew out the sword, and threw it on the ground. She then tore off a piece of cloth and bound the wound tightly. Gu Shenwei didn’t bleed much, but his face was pale. He slowly sat down, and could no longer proceed with a second consecutive a.s.sa.s.sination.

Lotus jumped to the ground and unsheathed her sabre, ready to cut off Chu Yangjun’s head.

“Leave his head,” Servant Huan ordered from above.

Lotus looked up with surprise but she didn’t question it. She quickly stabbed the corpse’s neck with her narrow sabre to widen that deadly small wound. Now, no one could tell that Chu Yangjun had died under the sword.

After the two killers returned to their hiding spot, Gu Shenwei couldn’t hold on any more and fell down in bed. The blood had already seeped through the bandages of the wound.

This was not the worst injury he had ever suffered. He didn’t faint, and for a period of time he was even able to think straight. He could still smile to show his thanks when Lotus helped him wipe his body, apply some medicine, and bind the wound up again. But slowly, the world in front of him started to change strangely. Like a person who wasn’t good at drinking, he tried to stay awake under the attack of the wine, but in the end, everything was in vain. Click, something seemed to have rung out in his mind, and his strained heart relaxed and plunged into an ethereal world of fantasy.

There were only a few of the dreamlike scenes that Gu Shenwei remembered after he woke up. Some of them were of the figures and things he still had an impression of: families, the old house in the Central Plains, and his childhood

friends who he couldn’t remember the names of anymore. There were also things he had never cared about before. The last thing he remembered was a vast sea of flowers, pink and white like sparkling light. That might be the peach blossom, he thought.

He opened his eyes and felt more exhausted than ever, as if his internal energy and entrails were empty, leaving him a mere leather bag on the bed.

Lotus was sitting on the edge of the bed wiping the sweat from his forehead, her face impa.s.sive as if what she was doing was a task that she repeated daily.

“What day is it?”

“The seventh day of the second lunar month, in the afternoon.”

He had been unconscious for two days and nights.

What had he had said while he was intoxicated by the illusions? What had he done? Had he let slip his most important secret? Gu Shenwei felt very uneasy at heart, his right hand unconsciously reaching out to his waist. This was his habit. He would grip the sabre hilt or sword hilt whenever he was nervous.

Nothing was there. No sabre, sword. or clothes. Only a sheet of bedding on his body. He blushed. Although killers should not care about such things, there were some things that even a killer couldn’t control. On this, Tie Hanfeng, who took everything as a trifling matter, was the most qualified killer.

Lotus was still expressionless. She put down the towel and said, “You have to get up. Many people are looking for you.”

Lotus’s cold words actually helped Gu Shenwei to restore his calm, “I must have said lots of messy things.”

“Mmm, only you can understand what you’ve said,” Lotus replied obscurely. Then she stood up and looked at Servant Huan on the bed, saying, “Every killer hates the castle of stone in their heart. There’s nothing to be embarra.s.sed about. It’s the same for everyone.”

Gu Shenwei became startled. He didn’t understand the true meaning of Lotus’s words. Perhaps all the killers hated Golden Roc Castle, but only he himself had real evil intentions and had turned his hatred into concrete actions.

Should he trust the teenage girl in front of him? Gu Shenwei struggled for a while and finally said, “Thank you.”

“Mmm, come, our troubles are not settled yet.”

There was still lots of trouble waiting for Gu Shenwei and Lotus. 

Chu Yangjun had died quietly in Southern Jade City. Not many people knew his name and the ones who did know him only wondered why one of the most handsome men in the City View alley had died in a

a dirty ditch. Very few people connected the corpse to the Kun Society, as most people thought it was a crime of pa.s.sion and became disinterested in half a day.  

Compared to Chu Yangjun’s death, what attracted the residents of Jade City more was the disappearance of the Sword Offering Ye Silang.

Ye Silang had disappeared. There was no sign of him in Northern Jade City, Southern Jade City, his living place, numerous gambling houses, taverns, or brothels. No one could find this famous swordsman.

The Qiu Society had been hit hard again. Although Ye Silang had openly stated that he was not a member of the Qiu Society, he was naturally considered as an ally of the Qiu Society since the one he wanted to kill was an arch-enemy of the Qiu Society. Now, he had gone missing without any indication of whether he was dead or alive. In the twinkle of an eye, the Kun Society, which had retreated to the corner, was showing its strong and sharp claws again.

So, the long-awaited war between the Kun and Qiu Society everyone was worrying about and expecting finally broke out.

Tuo Nengya suddenly recruited over a hundred sabremen overnight, many of whom had offered to come to his door. He was able to form the ‘Invincible Sabre Formation’ again.

It was just that their time was too limited. The sabremen formation was still not well formed and the Kun and Qiu Societies were still trying to form a complete attack plan when a melee across all of Southern Jade City broke out.  

No one knew which side started it first, but it soon became common knowledge that the sabremen of the Kun Society were wearing a yellow band around their arms and that the sabremen of the Qiu Society had a red band on their forehead. A vicious fight would break out right away as soon as the yellow and the red met.

There were countless sabremen in Southern Jade City and the enmity amongst them all were hopelessly entangled. Everyone believed that this would be the final battle and they all wanted to take this opportunity to settle their matters once and for all. Many people claimed to belong to one of the societies but their names had never appeared in the roster, and nor were they asking for payment. They simply tied on a yellow band to kill one of their enemies today and changed to wearing a red band to attack another enemy the next. They switched their stances as casually as one ate. 

The war was out of control from the start. Not only were

only were the merchants were affected and as a result complaining a lot, but the leaders of the Kun and Qiu Society also immediately found themselves being used. Which, if left unchecked, would cause both sides to end up in the hands of the sabremen who were avenging their personal grudges.

Thus, all the parties immediately tried to make an effort to end this meaningless war the day after its outbreak.

 
It was under such circ.u.mstances that Shangguan Ru had sent people to look for the killer Yang Huan.

Gu Shenwei and Lotus went directly to Northern Jade City after they got the news. Shangguan Ru was excitedly pacing back and forth in the front hall. “You killed Ye Silang?” That was the first thing she asked as soon as she saw her most capable killers.

“No, just Huang Shian.” Gu Shenwei answered. He didn’t intentionally hide the fact that they had also killed Chu Yangjun, as that swordsman held no great meaning to Tenth Gongzi.

Shangguan Ru sighed with disappointment, but soon cheered up, “The little b.a.s.t.a.r.d of the Meng family wants to have negotiations and I agreed. Why not? The first negotiation is set for the day after tomorrow. Servant Huan, you attend it. However, I want to launch a large-scale counterattack before the negotiation. We must let the Qiu Society know that it is not us asking for peace. Yu Gongzi, you’re in charge of this.” 

Shangguan Ru ordered quickly and clearly, not at all like a little girl of fourteen years. She finally asked Servant Huan what he was up to these days after everything was arranged.

Gu Shenwei briefly narrated those two a.s.sa.s.sinations and mentioned his injury with an understatement.

Upon hearing that Chu Yangjun was Ye Silang’s bodyguard, Shangguan Ru clenched her right fist and hit the palm of her left hand, “I see, so Ye Silang is too frightened to show up. Huh, you and Lotus continue looking for him. It would be great if we could bring Ye Silang’s head to the negotiations, ha ha.”

Shangguan Ru was immersed in her wonderful fantasies.

Gu Shenwei didn’t remind Tenth Gongzi that Ye Silang’s disappearance was not due to fear. That swordsman must be frantically looking for killer Yang Huan to avenge Chu Yangjun.

Being unable to attend the counterattack organized by Yu Gongzi was exactly what Gu Shenwei wanted. He would like to see how this little devil would make her choice between the Kun Society and Qiu Society.

Shangguan Ru kept Servant Huan behind alone after sending the others away. “I have deliberately separated you and Lotus from Wild Horse. So how is it, has he acted again?”

“No, I think/>“No, I think he will be more cautious from now on.”

“Hmm, I also asked Yu Gongzi to keep an eye on him and this counterattack is a test. Yu Gongzi will make two plans, and Wild Horse will only know of one of them. If there are any signs showing that Wild Horse is in league with the enemy, his head will also be presented in front of little Meng tomorrow night.”

“That’s a good plan,” Gu Shenwei said insincerely. As long as Shangguan Yushi was there, Wild Horse would not be exposed. Besides, the one who had colluded with the Qiu Society wasn’t Wild Horse at all.

Shangguan Ru stretched out her fist and patted Servant Huan’s arm. With a flickering smile, she held her head high and said, “I want Ye Silang’s head.”

“Tenth Gongzi will see it before midnight tomorrow.”

Gu Shenwei suddenly felt a bit disappointed. Shangguan Ru was treating him more and more like a domestic killer. Yes, she still valued Servant Huan as her right-hand man, but he was no longer her playmate like before. Those seemingly childish means of buying over people showed that the teenage girl had grown up, and that the leadership traits of the Shangguan family pa.s.sed down from generation to generation had replaced her straightforward naivety.

 
Gu Shenwei hummed at heart and loftily drove away his disappointment. Shangguan Ru had never been his playmate, and nor had she ever been his friend. She was ranked highly on his kill list.     

The thought of stabbing Tenth Gongzi in the neck caused the teenage killer’s heart to surge.

Gu Shenwei and Lotus had made the plan to a.s.sa.s.sin Ye Silang long ago. Although they had missed the best time, they had still gained an advantage by successfully enraging the swordsman.

The two decided to wait for an opportunity. Gu Shenwei would try to attract Ye Silang’s long sword while Lotus hid in the dark to launch a lethal attack just like how they had a.s.sa.s.sinated Chu Yangjun. The only difference was the roles they were to play.

Only killers with mutual trust could resort to this kind of a.s.sa.s.sination method by putting one’s own life in another’s hand.

They returned to their small rented house in Southern Jade City. Since they had visited Northern Jade City and exposed their traces, Ye Silang must have heard of the enemy’s whereabouts. So there was no need to spread the news.

It turned out the night was safe and sound. Ye Silang didn’t show up, and neither did the sabremen of the Qiu Society try to spy on them.

The swordsman seemed to have really disappeared, which was a big surprise to the killers.